Curry sets Smith-Cotton single-game tackles record

Published 2:10 am Thursday, October 15, 2026

During Smith-Cotton football’s homecoming game against Capital City, Rylon Curry knew he was racking up a lot of tackles.

He just didn’t realize he was making history.

The senior linebacker set a new single-game school record with 23 total tackles, leading the Tigers to a 16-0 victory on Friday, Oct. 9, at Jennie Jaynes Stadium.

“I had a few people come up to me and say how close they thought I might have been to it,” Curry said Tuesday, Oct. 13. “My guess was 18 at the end of the game, so I undershot myself, but I got a text from Coach [Mike Franklin] and Coach [Jeremiah] Baruxen Friday night, and they told me I broke the record. It’s pretty awesome. It felt pretty good.”

Curry’s new mark surpasses Evan Schnicker’s 2009 record of 21 tackles. According to MSHSAA records, 23 tackles in a single game ranks 14th in state history.

“It does feel really good,” Curry said. “I’ve had a lot of people congratulate me. I’ve never really experienced anything kind of like it, so it’s weird, but I mean, it’s all good feelings. It just feels really good to have my name there for the next few years hopefully until someone comes and breaks it.”

Facing a run-heavy Capital City team, Curry credited Smith-Cotton’s defensive scheme for setting up the linebacking corps for success.

“We ran our diesel package, so we took our inside linebackers and put them down on the D-line,” Curry said. “A lot of the time, they’d be unbalanced with four on one side, so we’d shift the D-line that way. When we’re in that diesel, we have two linebackers. One of them was actually a safety we walked down. We just did our job and did what we needed to do, stuck to our game plan and it worked out.”

Looking back at the game, Curry said two tackles stood out to him.

One arrived in the second quarter when Curry read a pitch play and met Capital City senior running back Kanai Johnson — who is listed at 5 feet, 10 inches tall and 245 pounds compared to Curry’s 6 feet, 190 pounds — in the backfield.

“Number four (Johnson), he was bubbling out and caught one,” Curry said. “He wasn’t really ready for it. I gave him a nice little hit and knocked him down pretty good. That was exciting.”

The second came on a third-down play, where Curry stuffed an inside run with a big hit.

“I met a kid in the gap, took his helmet off,” Curry said. “It was pretty good. It was a third-down stop too, so it felt pretty good.”

Curry added that his record-setting night was the culmination of his growth over the course of his career.

“I was seeing everything,” Curry said. “It almost felt like the game was in slow motion at times. These last few weeks, I’ve been really putting it all together. Really all year, but it’s gotten better these last few weeks. I’m seeing it really good and getting downhill. That’s something I’ve struggled with the last few years is getting downhill. I hesitate too much, but this year I’ve gotten a lot better at getting downhill and making plays.”

Curry’s performance brought his season total up to a team-high 74 total tackles. He is also tied with junior Armand Wright for a team-best eight tackles for loss.

Curry also has one sack, one forced fumble and two fumble recoveries this season.

The Tigers (3-4, 3-3 CMAC) visit Helias Catholic on Saturday, Oct. 17.

Sports editor Jack Denebeim can be reached at 660-530-0142.